A Rather Beautiful Spot
by TheThirdJedi
Summary: After the rescue mission on Haestrom, Garrus goes down to talk to his long time friend. What he finds is possibly the beginning of something more. Garrus/Tali, No-smut, one shot. Reviews appreciated.


Walking through the mess hall, Garrus couldn't help but feel smug. While humans were certainly made of tough stuff, nothing could beat the powerful posture of a turian. He held himself with pride, his stride determined and with a purpose. He resisted the urge to smirk as he moved past the tables, the various Cerberus agents whispering among themselves. He simply ignored them.

_It didn't use to be like this, I used to be respected on the Normandy. Now, it's barely concealed disgust._

There was a stark difference between the Alliance military personnel and Cerberus "employees." While humans were generally untrusting of other races, especially turians, they would still give respect where respect was due. Garrus, Tali, Wrex, and Liara had earned their places on the first Normandy, despite being "aliens". While he certainly earned his place on this vessel, it was clear that he was only tolerated.

Shaking off the oddly philosophical thought, he redirected his brain power to his current mission, so to speak. Not two hours ago, He and Shepard rescued Tali'Zorah on Haestrom, battling Geth and the environment itself. _Ah…just like old times._

Ok, it wasn't just the two of them, but it didn't really matter. While the other members of the deployment team where decent people, except for Miranda, it just wasn't the same.

_Nothing like a good war to bond with friends, skirmishes with the Collectors just doesn't compare._

It was with this thought, and a tapping on the screen of the elevator, that led him down the engineering deck, where, by far, his best friend awaited him. They hadn't said much while on Haestrom, the battle with the Geth had left everyone on frayed nerves. So besides a few nice words, Garrus hadn't had a good conversation with Tali for a long time.

The lift came to a comfortable stop at his destination and he stepped out to the blaring of Jack's music. Ignoring the odd human "screamo", he continued to where he predicted she would be.

The door slid open, and his prediction was correct. He was never wrong. Standing a little ways away from the two human engineers, it seemed like the quarian was hard at work. While Shepard might have quirked her eyebrow at this, Garrus understood completely.

_Heck, as soon as I was patched up I was recalibrating those damn guns…_

It was part of the coping process, he theorized nearly two years ago. Aboard a human ship, surrounded by people you didn't know, it was easy to consume yourself in work. For Garrus, and apparently Tali, old habits die hard.

Engineer Donnelly glanced over to him, raising an eyebrow. Garrus merely nodded his head to the door, signaling that he wanted to be alone with the quarian. Donnelly opened his mouth to say something, but his female counterpart grabbed him and nearly dragged him out the door, winking at the turian before the door closed.

_I swear, those two are meant for each other…_

Shaking off that thought with a smirk, Garrus approached the engineer until he was a few feet away from her. It was obvious that she had a lot on her mind, as the sniper wasn't exactly being sneaky. "Hard at work, I see." Garrus voiced his thoughts in his usual gravelly voice. He internally winced when he saw her almost jump out of her suit.

Turning and putting her hand to her chest, she looked like she almost had a heart attack.

"Creators, Garrus, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" The quarian exclaimed, still recovering from his "sudden" appearance. Said turian merely quirked a non-existent eyebrow at her. "How long have you been standing there anyway?" she asked in an irritated tone, obviously annoyed at her own lack of awareness.

Smiling, the sniper resorted to his usual sarcastic tone. "Oh you know, about an hour or two. Heck, I'm surprised you didn't notice me when you walked in earlier…"

Crossing her arms, the quarian was clearly not entertained. "Ha ha, lets just make fun of the deaf engineer." She replied, equally sarcastic. Garrus just shrugged his shoulders and walked past her, moving into the small room with a view of the core, knowing she would follow him. While he wasn't an engineer in the same sense that Tali and Donnelly were, he still knew when to appreciate a beautiful view.

_And I'm not talking about the core…_

As he leaned over the railing, he heard Tali approach and watched as she mimicked him, sighing. "It some time getting used to, but I liked how quiet the Normandy was." Pausing for a moment, she continued. "This Normandy is almost dead silent. It's efficient, but…with no character."

Garrus looked away from her and back to the core, thinking as well. "Cerberus definitely knew where to put their money. Unfortunately, this is pretty much where they put all of it." He glared at the damn thing, irritated that the main cannons appeared to be made a secondary priority. _Being quiet is nice, but what about when we need to blow something up? What a waste…_

Tali seemingly caught on to his line of thinking and agreed. Then, they stood in silence for what seemed like hours, though was only a few minutes. Garrus didn't know how to break the silence, and was relieved when he didn't have to.

"I…was worried about you." She turned and faced him, interlacing her fingers in front of her. The former detective could clearly see was nervous about something. A moment later and she hesitantly brought her hand to his scarred face. "And it looks like I was right to be…" While she sounded sad, he could tell there was a hint of humor in her accented voice. Leaning into her touch, Garrus considered how to advance the conversation.

_I…can't just throw it out there, can I? I'm Garrus Vakarian, a charming, rogue sniper. I need to…_

"When Shepard…died…we all split up. I went back to the fleet; you took up being a vigilante…" Garrus wasn't necessarily surprised, his time as Archangel wasn't really a secret, but it was odd that she knew about it only being onboard for a few hours. "What, you think I am blind?" she said, smugly. While he couldn't see it, he knew there was a smile under her mask. "Even on the Rayya, we received word of a trained turian sniper, clad in blue armor and fighting for justice on a lawless space station while making his own rules. It wasn't exactly hard to put a name to the…helmet." Once again, her voice was just oozing smugness, something Garrus couldn't help but smile at.

_She used to be so shy and nervous…I guess she really has become a woman._

"I suppose next time I'll switch it up a bit. Maybe I'll wear black and orange, fighting crime with a metal tool of some sort." Tali finally brought her hand down, but Garrus grabbed it halfway. He didn't know why he did it and he had no words to explain himself. Tali, too, seemed confused as to what to do next. The tension was there, almost visible.

"Tali I-" Garrus was interrupted by a rather rude AI, named EDI.

"Miss Zorah, Commander Shepard has requested your presence in the conference room."

Without waiting for a reply, the voice was gone. Alone, save for each other, it was obvious the moment was ruined. Whatever Garrus was about to say, he brought back into his mind to think about later.

"I…should probably go." The quarian said emotionlessly. Detaching her hand she took a step back and looked up to the turian. Said turian, turned and looked back at the glowing blue orb that dominated the room, finally composing his thoughts.

"It's beautiful down here. I might have to make a few more trips, to…relax. His voice was confident and relaxed. The quarian looked back to the orb as well, obviously understanding his message.

"I suppose I could find time in between working on the engine to come in here as well. Maybe we'll run into each other again. I'd also like to take a look at the cannons. I know that's your area of expertise…but…" She finished unsure. Garrus simply smiled.

"I'd love an extra pair of eyes. Maybe we'll find something that we couldn't individually." Again, his voice was confident and composed. Tali looked back at him and nodded. "Until then, Mr. Vakarian." Just like before, he could almost feel the smile gracing her lips.

"Until then, Miss Zorah." He replied, and with a final nod, she walked out of the tiny alcove. Garrus may have been seeing things, but he could've sworn there was a sway to her hips, as if she knew he was watching her leave. Garrus shook his head and turned back to the core for a final time, his thoughts taking over him as he bathed in the blue light.

_It really is beautiful down here._


End file.
